Canon iPF6300 03800500-2f30

[monkeymon]

Hello

Some time ago i got this Canon iPF6300 printer. I bought it second hand, it has not seen much of use.

But all i get from it, is the "03800500-2f30" error. It does the nozzle check, the beebs and gives me this error.

I know the error means "Head management sensor position adjustment error." But nothing else. I do not know where this head management sensor is.. and how to fix this.

It gave me the same error when i tried to do the Head management sensor calibration in service mode.

I have also gotten other errors, but now it seems to have settled on this one error.

The print head does not seem to be clogged, and i did clean them, no effect. I'm wasting ridiculous amounts of ink on the cleaning cycles it does every time just to give me the same error (fresh tanks almost empty!).

Anyone have any insight on these flimsy looking devises, or know a forum where i should go ask?

The only way i can start the machine, is in the service mode. As in it it does not try to do the cleaning and crash thing.

Errors i have seen so far:

03130031-2f49
03130031-2618
03800500-2f30
03800500-2f40
03130031-2f52

And if anyone knows a link to the service manual, share. I can only find ipf8000 service manual.

Regards. Aleksi Koski

[Pete Berry]

Aleski, has the printer ever printed normally (without error messages and clear nozzle check) since you bought it?

The Canon large format printer Wiki site is the best resource for your problems: http://canonipf.wikispaces.com/page/messages/FAQ

Pete

[monkeymon]

No, it had this problem when i got it. It was still running the first inks... Can't get past the nozzle check.

What i'm now interested is, how do i remove the head sensor?

And is this normal? In the picture, seems like to other head has been pushing out a lot of ink.. and other seems pretty much clean? Though i have emptied the left head several times, and right only couple.

Am i right to assume the black box thing is the sensor i should probably replace?

[rvonmayr]

03800500-2f30 corrective actions from the IPF6400 service manual:

Check the ink tube unit and surrounding parts
Check the purge unit and surrounding parts
Check the head management sensor and surrounding parts (this tall narrow part is located vertically at the far right hand end of the purge unit, underneath the right cover)
Check the flexible cable unit and surrounding parts
Check that the printhead is installed correctly
Replace the main controller PCB
Replace the printhead
Replace the carriage unit




Head management sensor
The photo-transmission-type sensor detects that the printhead is discharging ink.  The carriage moves to and stops at the detection positions for individual nozzle arrays. When the carriage is at a stop, nozzles discharge ink on after another.  The sensor detects each nozzle due to the voltage change caused when ink discharged from the nozzle blocks the sensor light.  Non-discharging nozzle detection is carried out at the following timings:
- After the execution of Cleaning 1, Cleaning 2, Cleaning 3, Cleaning 6 or Cleaning 10
- After the number of copies that has been set by the user menu choice Nozzle Check Frequency have been printed
If more than a specified number of non-discharging nozzles have been located in one session of non-discharging nozzle detection, the normal cleaning sequence is
launched before a second session of non-discharging nozzle detection is conducted. If more than a specified number of non-discharging nozzles are located in the
second session of non-discharging nozzle detection, the normal (High) cleaning session is launched before a third session of non-discharging nozzle detection is
conducted.
If there are at least 320 non-discharging nozzles out of 2560 nozzles as the result of non-discharging nozzle detection, printing is canceled after displaying a message
to replace the head.
However, if service mode: [SERVICE MODE] > [SETTING] > [HEAD DOT INF] is [ON], the following message appears.
If there are at least 30 nozzles unable to correct the non-discharging state and the number of non-discharging nozzles is less than 100 out of 2,560 nozzles as the
result of non-discharging nozzle detection, printing can continue after displaying a message to check the printing. Also, if the number of non-discharging nozzles
is at least 100 but less than 320 nozzles, printing can continue after displaying a message to check the head. And if there are at least 320 non-discharging nozzles,
printing is canceled after displaying a message to replace the head.

[monkeymon]

Thanks.. i have the ipf8300 service manual

http://canonipf.wikispaces.com/file/view/ipf8300+Service+Manual.pdf

says the same things... but i'm pretty much looking for some user experience / expertise on how to actually get this running.

[Pete Berry]

Thanks.. i have the ipf8300 service manual

http://canonipf.wikispaces.com/file/view/ipf8300+Service+Manual.pdf

says the same things... but i'm pretty much looking for some user experience / expertise on how to actually get this running.

All large format printers are extraordinarily complex beasts, and frequently challenge even the most experienced service techs in diagnosis, with the end result (when under warranty) of throwing different new parts into it and assessing the results - in the iPF's, beginning with the printheads at $400-450 retail each.

I recently had a three year old iPF 5100 failure, with "multifunction sensor failure" error message. Simple, I thought, so I bought a $45 replacement, removed the accessible sensor, but was unable to plug its tiny ribbon cable into the new one without complete shell dis-assembly and a number of deeper parts. Finally re-assembled and turned on, what followed was the same error as well as several other sensor errors. With the printer's age and with considerable "mileage" on the printheads, and no guarantee that I could reasonably get the printer running again, I replaced it with a new unit, as the $1500 costs was just about identical to the retail value of a new printer's starter inks (~$600) and two printheads (~$900). With a year's warranty to boot.

The moral of the used printer story I've gleaned from over seven years following the iPF Wiki is that unless proven in your presence to print normally, and error message-free, regardless of what the seller says, a used printer is liable to become an expensive, frustrating experience. And not only with Canon's - check out this humongous thread on Epson's equivalent to the iPF 6300:  http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=61585.0

My recommendation - unless money, time, and electronic/mechanical repair expertise are not lacking - is to cut your losses now, and sell whatever ink (if in date) you have.

Pete (The used Printer Pessimist!)

[monkeymon]

Well i'm not going to give up on this.. i never give up on anything. It has never failed me.. so far ..

The ink is no problem, i know how to get it cheaply.

Print-heads do cost a lot to start replasing them before i know that that is exactly what i need to do. I would also need to know witch print head to relapse, as it's not possible that both are failing.

I actually do not think these machines are so complicated, the more i learn about them.. the simpler they seem. But it would be nice ones in a while, to not to have to learn everything about a machine i use.

But if there is anyone less pessimistic, i have now 3 errors i get regularly on 2 different occasions:

When i do a nozzle check, i get :

03800500-2F40 "The non-discharge of all colors and chips (A/B, EVEN/ODD) and nozzles is detected."
or
03800500-2F30 "Head management sensor position adjustment error."

These come in the end phase of the nozzle check.

When i try to print, i get :

03130031-2f49 (I can't find this in the ipf8300 service manual. Might be something related to magenta ink tank, or replace the left side print head.)

This comes almost instantly.

The left side print head problem might go whit what i have seen, as when i look at the machine trying to do the nozzle check.. it seems to only try the left side print head.

Question is, what would happen if i switch the printheads? This way i could be sure that it's the printhead.. as it should give me a different error  (2f49 Left Head or 2f50 Right Head). But will there be some irreversible damage when the inks get mixed up?

[Pete Berry]

Well i'm not going to give up on this.. i never give up on anything. It has never failed me.. so far ..

The ink is no problem, i know how to get it cheaply.

Print-heads do cost a lot to start replasing them before i know that that is exactly what i need to do. I would also need to know witch print head to relapse, as it's not possible that both are failing.

I actually do not think these machines are so complicated, the more i learn about them.. the simpler they seem. But it would be nice ones in a while, to not to have to learn everything about a machine i use.

But if there is anyone less pessimistic, i have now 3 errors i get regularly on 2 different occasions:



When i do a nozzle check, i get :

03800500-2F40 "The non-discharge of all colors and chips (A/B, EVEN/ODD) and nozzles is detected."
or
03800500-2F30 "Head management sensor position adjustment error."

These come in the end phase of the nozzle check.

When i try to print, i get :

03130031-2f49 (I can't find this in the ipf8300 service manual. Might be something related to magenta ink tank, or replace the left side print head.)

This comes almost instantly.

The left side print head problem might go whit what i have seen, as when i look at the machine trying to do the nozzle check.. it seems to only try the left side print head.

Question is, what would happen if i switch the printheads? This way i could be sure that it's the printhead.. as it should give me a different error  (2f49 Left Head or 2f50 Right Head). But will there be some irreversible damage when the inks get mixed up?

It's almost a given that you have defective printheads, which is by far the most common problem, and Canon considers them "consumables". They are easily replaced, but you must go through the "replace printhead" menu, which first purges ink from the feed lines and heads, then refills the heads. Dumps about 150ml of ink into the waste tank, so if its capacity tank is down to 20% you will need to replace it first. I certainly wouldn't recommend switching heads. If in its previous life printing was forced with too many burnt-out nozzles, head temps will rise, and too much current can be drawn through the controller board causing its failure also.

Printers not very complicated? LOL!! My 5100 service manual is almost 400 pages, much very technical. It might be enlightening to call Canon support to get their feedback, but the combinations and permutations of possible interacting problems with multiple error messages - each of which with many causes - staggers my mind. And the reason that techs often use the empirical approach of replacing the most common failed parts until the beast is resuscitated - or not!

Good luck!

[Malcolm Payne]

I regret that I'm unable to add in depth to the technical discussion in this thread, but just a quick note to say that you can't swap the heads over Left to Right - they're not initially 'handed' as new but, once installed, the printer then codes them with their original location. I can say this for certain as, when my iPF8300 was serviced in 2012, the tech mistook the old Right head I had just replaced for the second new head he had also asked me to order, and tried three times unsuccessfully to install it as the Left head, wasting a lot of ink in the process, before I realised what he was doing - the printer simply threw an error each time.

Hope that might at least save you some time and ink, and good luck with your iPF6300.

[monkeymon]

Thanks, this was good piece of information.

I thought there might be something like this... so there is now way i can test this without getting a new print-head. That is what i was trying to avoid.

The thing is, these heads have not seen much use.. i can only see 5 prints in the job menu. I think the 5 prints are all that have ever been printer whit this machine.

[Ellis Vener]

Thanks, this was good piece of information.

I thought there might be something like this... so there is now way i can test this without getting a new print-head. That is what i was trying to avoid.

The thing is, these heads have not seen much use.. i can only see 5 prints in the job menu. I think the 5 prints are all that have ever been printer whit this machine.

That's a shame. The crazy thing is that if they had used it more the heads might still be "alive".  After letting my iPF6300 sit  and powered off for over a year last week I needed to get it back into action. I had to replace the  Photo Magenta ink and and the left print head. the next step was running a nozzle check. Followingthat I made the  first "real" print  a 22 x 33 inch  print of a close up of a Sunflower  with green leaves against a blue sky, on Canson Rag Photographique 310 gsm using Canson's profile for the iPF6300. The printing was beautiful: color was spot on and there were no ink splatters or streaking. Since getting the printer back into condition  I've been printing on a daily basis with no problems, This time I'll be leaving the pritner turned on and running. 

A friend with an IPF8300 in a similar situation to mine found out earlier this year that if he leaves the printer on and just makes a small print once a week  he has no problems when he's ready to make a run of  large scale prints.

I guess the moral of the story is that once you do have the printer back in running operation  you should be very happy with it. I know ( having jsut bought two printheads I knowbelieve me I know) that the print heads aren't cheap but if you plan on doing a steady amount of printing it should be a worthwhile investment.

[monkeymon]

Shame the printheads cost so much if they are so sensitive, but hey... maybe i only need one

I'm truly waiting to get this thing running, my first printer. I got hooked when i was in school, even though i shoot film.. i like the inkjet printing. Just bought a flextight and this printer, to really get the printing going. That is what i like in photography, can't stand just looking images on my screen. The print is the thing for me.

But yeah, i'm going to buy one printhead.. hopefully i can test it out whit the inks i still have. Shame i accidentally run the printhead removal thing too many times, it might have just spent the inks i needed to test the new head when i get it.

I was maybe.. a bit expecting to run to problems like this. As i knew the previous owner had barely printed whit it. I'm going to definitely keep it running when i get it to run.

The last print i see in the logs, have been made 2013/07/04.. so it has been sitting unused for almost a year.

[deanwork]

Well that is the problem. These things need to be plugged in all the time. They turn on automatically and monitor the nozzles several times a day and agitate the ink carts too. If he let it sit like that I"m sure the heads are gone.

j




The last print i see in the logs, have been made 2013/07/04.. so it has been sitting unused for almost a year.
[/quote]

[monkeymon]

The thing i can't get my head around is.. why is there any way to actually test the printheads? How can it give errors when i try to test them? Why it does not just do the test print, so i could see wich or if any nozzles work.

What is the point in this machine, that it has been made so.. that there is no way to override the errors and force it to print test patterns.

And the fact, that i can't ever start it without it going to all the nozzle checks and eventually giving hardware error and crashing.

Just seems really badly designed machine in this way.

But no can do, just have to start spending.. and get them printheads and inks.

[Pete Berry]

The thing i can't get my head around is.. why is there any way to actually test the printheads? How can it give errors when i try to test them? Why it does not just do the test print, so i could see wich or if any nozzles work.

What is the point in this machine, that it has been made so.. that there is no way to override the errors and force it to print test patterns.

And the fact, that i can't ever start it without it going to all the nozzle checks and eventually giving hardware error and crashing.

Just seems really badly designed machine in this way.

But no can do, just have to start spending.. and get them printheads and inks.

...because among the multiple error codes is one that states no ink is being discharged. And if printing is forced somehow, without the cooling effect of ink, the thermo-electric nozzles will self-immolate, likely followed by another cascade of errors involving controller boards, etc.

Bubble-jet head technology is fundamentally different from Epson piezo-electric heads with mechanical ejection, as Canons heated nozzles instantly vaporize the ink to discharge it. The heads have a huge nozzle redundancy, with auto re-mapping of failed (burnt/shorted out) nozzles. When too many have failed, head replacement is the simple cure.

Simply ink-clogged nozzles are a rarity it seems. In the four heads I've replaced over the years, multiple A and B cleanings had zero effect on the nozzle print abnormalities after head error messages, and a Canon tech once told me that if one cleaning doesn't affect it, more are simply a waste. Most Canon users see no need to do nozzle check prints until head error messages appear. The printer goes through it's own internal nozzle check routine on a regular basis, and I assume this is when its remapping happens if needed.

Here's hoping that two new heads will solve your problems, but it seems clear to me that deeper issues are at work with the several unusual error codes...

[monkeymon]

Yeah, i have read how the heads work. But there is definitely ink in the heads, and i does flow trough the heads.. otherwise it would not consume all the ink it's consuming.

But maybe it's just pumping ink thought it, but the nozzles do not fire up.

I'm aware that there is some sort of limit to how many nozzles can be out of order for the printer to agree to operate.

I'm going to get only one head, as if I replace the left head. It should at least give me another error for the right head, if it does not. Then relapsing heads won't do me any good.

[Pete Berry]

I've attached a JPG of the head management sensor removal from the 5100 service manual. The purge unit, which fills the void to the right of the sensor must be removed first for access, after rotating a gear on the outboard side of the purge unit to uncap the printheads and allow the carriage to be moved out of the way over the platen.

Pete

[marcsitkin]

I've gotten this message twice over the past month, with relatively new heads in an IPF 9100. The printing and nozzle checks are perfect, and Canon tech indicates it's an error in either the carriage board, the detection sensor, or the ribbon cable. It would take a $1500 tech visit to set it right.

I've been able to get around it by entering the service menu and clearing the error code (a phone call to tech helped me do this).

I'm about to start a fresh thread regarding my need to decide to fix this printer, by a used one, or replace with a smaller 44" machine.

 

[monkeymon]

I do not think it's the sensor... as i get the power supply when i try to run "HEAD CNT CHK" in service mode. This should just give info are the print head connections ok, but gives 03130031-2618 power supply error.

Every error i get, seems to point to the heads.


2 f 49 Short-circuit in the head
2618 voltage error in the head
2 f 30 clogged print nozzles
2 f 40 I think probably the same problem ( Canon people have no idea )

[monkeymon]

Well, got both new heads.. did not do any good.

Canon says it's the main board, but i do not think so.. as everything on it seem to work. It would be pretty weird if it would break so precisely.

The main problem seems to be the 03130031-2618, power supply error. As this is what i get when i try to do the "HEAD CNT CHK" that should just check the head connections. "NOZZLE INF" shows that all nozzles are not firing.

Does anyone know what these flat cables specifically do? As in the picture i have disconnected the two wide ones, and the printer still starts up and does everything it does. Gives the same 2618 error on "NOZZLE INF" & if i try to print.

If i disconnect any of the smaller ones, it gives multi sensor error.

I also found this trouble shooting guide : http://www.tdo.se/pdf/Scania/iPF-Troubleshooting-Guide-Level-2.pdf